3 coronavirus cases confirmed in Ladakh & Tamil Nadu, total cases in India now 34

New Delhi: India on Saturday recorded three more confirmed cases of coronavirus (Covid-19), taking the total number of confirmed cases to 34.

“Three (3) more cases have been found positive for Covid-19. These include two (2) from Ladakh with travel history to Iran and one (1) from Tamil Nadu with travel history to Oman. With these new cases, total number of cases are now 34 in the country. 31 cases are being treated in hospitals and are stable. Whereas the earlier three from Kerala have been discharged," an official statement from ministry of health and family welfare said.

With the evolving situation of coronavirus in the country, the government has realised to increase awareness about the infection, so that people can prevent themselves from getting infected.

In order to spread awareness, special Covid-19 mobile phone caller tune was launched by all telecom operators with basic infection prevention messages played when a caller dials out.

“Several confirmed cases have also been detected in India. Although, we are taking all steps necessary to prevent further importation of such cases and to also prevent local transmission of this disease in India, it will be prudent to raise community awareness about common signs and symptoms of this disease and advocate simple public health measures, the community may undertake to prevent infection," said Arun Singhal, special secretary, union health ministry, in a letter to Anshu Prakash, secretary, ministry of communications.

The government also started tracing contacts of the 79-year-old American national who tested positive for the virus in Bhutan and was in India in recent months.

The union health ministry said that more than 150 contacts have been put under Integrated Disease Surveillance Project (IDSP) surveillance for tracing the people whom he came in contact with.

In addition, 108 samples have been received from Iran on Saturday morning. These samples are being tested at the laboratory in All India Institute of of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). Also, six scientists from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) have been stationed in Iran, the government said.

“Equipment and reagents, worth approximately ₹10 crores have been dispatched to enable them to setup a lab there," health ministry officials said.

According to the government, a total of 726,122 people from 7,108 flights have been screened at airports. Between Friday morning and Saturday, total of 73,766 passengers from 573 flights have undergone screening at airports.

“As many as 52 laboratories are now operational across the country for testing COVID-19 virus. An additional 57 laboratories have been provided with viral transport Media and swabs for sample collection," the health ministry statement said.